COMMUNITY FORUM

Finishing garage

I'm starting the planning for finishing my garage into a family room. My plans are to use the same method a friend just used to finish his basement….metal studs on the floor and ceiling used as tracks and then wood 2x3 screwed into the tracks. This worked out great and eliminated a bunch of toenailing. The walls will not be structural and only provide a means to insulate, run wire and hang drywall. My question is what happens if the metal studs get wet? Common sense tells us they will rust. The Owens corning system mentioned on this weekends show used metal studs in the basement and Bob said they are good for basements because they are resistant to moisture. My garage does not currently get any water as it sits about an inch above grade, but I worry what may happen later down the road once I finish it out of site. Does anyone think that using metal studs on the floor would be an issue? Would you use a pressure treated sole plate instead? Is the pressure treated sole plate ok for an interior living space?

Additionally I was thinking of building up the floor to avoid carpet on a cold hard concrete slab. Should this wood be pressure treated? Again the same question about using pressure treated wood inside the house applies. Should a vapor barrier go down before the floor joists?

Considering first things first, you need to contact your local building and zoning code department to see if you will be able to convert your garage to living space at all.

Most building codes do NOT permit garage to living space conversions for a variety of reasons.

Supposing your community will allow a garage to living space conversion, most codes allow metal, treated lumber, or otherwise naturally rot resistant lumber base plates to come into direct contact with the concrete slabs or pads.

That sid, just HOW you finsih the framing in the basement is solely up to the building/zoning code office in your town.